Azerbaijan has more friends in Collective Security Treaty Organisation than Armenia does
President Aliyev’s statement about trust in Azerbaijan

CHRONICLE  21 November 2022 - 17:45

President Ilham Aliyev has said that Azerbaijan has more friends in Collective Security Treaty Organisation than Armenia does.

He made these remarks at the Heydar Aliyev Centre at an event on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party on November 21, according to Caliber.Az.

CSTO

"In organisations in which we are not members, we have many friends, and the events of recent years and months show this once again. CSTO can be cited as an example. We are not a member of this organisation, but Armenia is, and through the CSTO, it intended to make unfounded claims to Azerbaijan. In fact, it wanted to put the member states face-to-face with Azerbaijan. This is a big provocation and a heinous crime,” President Aliyev said.

“However, other members of this organisation did not agree to this provocation. Some members in their speeches put Armenia in such a position that Armenia cannot forget it until now. So what does it mean? We have more friends in this organisation than Armenia does. What is the reason? The reason is our politics because we are a reliable partner. Why is the attitude towards Armenia negative? Armenia lies everywhere and there are no more people to solve the problem, no matter whom they appeal to. All this is obvious, everyone sees it, everyone knows it,” the president said.

Strong position in other international agencies

He stressed that Azerbaijan’s international positions have been greatly strengthened.

"A lot can be said about this topic, but I would like to stress a few points. We became the first country in the CIS which was elected a member of the UN Security Council through  155 countries’ support," President Aliyev said.

The president said that Azerbaijan was elected chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement upon a unanimous decision of 120 countries in 2019, and due to our successful chairmanship, its term was extended for another year, until the end of next year.

"We are successfully working within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Organisation of Turkic States, and within many other organisations," the Azerbaijani president noted.

Another failure of France and Armenia

The president blamed France for masterminding a provocation against Azerbaijan along with Armenia at a francophone country summit hosted by Tunisia on November 19.

"The author of this provocation was France, which now patronises Armenia. They call each other sisters, I can see that myself. They might call themselves brothers, but for some reason, they call each other sisters,” the president noted.

“The initial version of the resolution prepared there was based only on anti-Azerbaijani theses and completely contradicted reality. All anti-Azerbaijani theses were removed thanks to the efforts of our friends from the Organisation of La Francophonie, whom we know well. The Franco-Armenian tandem failed to use this opportunity. That is, it shows that our authority in international organisations and our policy at the international level are valued because we always carefully consider every case. There is no difference between our word and our signature. We prioritise the principles of cooperation, and friendship in our foreign policy concept and render assistance to countries in need whenever possible, just as we rendered humanitarian and financial assistance to more than 80 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. So it's a big deal. Of course, worthy behaviour in the international arena brought us additional respect,” President Aliyev said.

NAP

Aliyev described the first founding conference of the New Azerbaijan Party [NAP], held in Nakhchivan, as a historic event.

“A new political force has emerged in our country after this conference, under the chairmanship of national leader Heydar Aliyev,” President Aliyev said.

“The New Azerbaijan Party emerged as an opposition party, and taking on some grave problems of the country, its burden was a step that required great responsibility,” the Azerbaijani president said.

“The reason is that during that period, I would like to reiterate again that the processes in the country were very alarming, and the appeal of Azerbaijani prominent representatives to Heydar Aliyev caused this need,” the president added.

The Azerbaijani president noted that the country was ungovernable, the foundations of statehood were not laid during the year, and democratic development was slow, and in fact, steps were taken back.

“If we recall only the introduction of censorship, then it is enough to say that during that period we could not talk about a democratic environment. That’s why, the founding conference of the New Azerbaijan Party was held in Nakhchivan,” President Aliyev said.

“During that period, this conference was not allowed to be held in Baku. That is, despite the proclamation of democratic values, the Azerbaijani people actually saw the opposite situation,” the president said.

President Aliyev noted that there was no freedom of the media, the economy was in a very difficult situation, the social situation of people was deteriorating day by day, poverty reached almost 90 per cent, and industrial production was stagnant.

The Azerbaijani president said that the oil and gas industry, the leading branch of Azerbaijan’s industry, also experienced a recession, and in fact, an energy crisis covered Azerbaijan.

“A regular army was not built, inflation passed from double to triple digits. That is, such a situation was in our country in November 1992,” President Aliyev said.

Caliber.Az